What about Conservatives? You might think the party\u2019s big tent and Red Tory tradition would create the conditions for a compelling, moderate approach. That\u2019s certainly what the Centre Ice Conservatives<\/a>, sorry, the Centre Ice Canadians <\/em>would have us believe. As frequent readers will know, I\u2019m not what you\u2019d call a centrist. Regardless, I was pleased to see moderate partisan Conservatives launch the initiative, thinking the movement and Canada would benefit from a forum for exploring new policy ideas and hashing out debates on big issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not so. After a couple of poorly attended, navel-gazing gatherings, the group changed its name, presumably thinking it was the word \u201cconservative\u201d that was hurting them. The real problem is that the group and its leaders sound as old as they look. They seem to have nothing new to say about today\u2019s challenges and talk about the world like 25-year-olds can still buy houses and China isn\u2019t tampering with our democracy. If Jean Charest was the Conservative\u2019s attempt at a moderate approach, it seems unlikely that dynamic centrism will emerge from Stephen Harper\u2019s party any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. Indeed, since Donald Trump\u2019s election first turned the U.S. political spectrum on its head, some younger, more energetic American thought leaders are experimenting with interesting versions of radical centrism. On the policy side, young wonks like Ezra Klein<\/a> and Matt Yglesia<\/a>s are experimenting with \u201csupply-side progressivism\u201d, an attempt to tackle big problems like housing and green energy with market-oriented supply-side solutions, through the progressive lenses of affordability and climate change. And in the world of podcasts and books, centrist figures like Scott Galloway (AKA Prof G)<\/a> and Richard Reeves<\/a> are taking up pressing cultural challenges even when they\u2019re politically incorrect\u2014like questions of modern masculinity\u2014with clearly moderate prescriptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are even indications this approach is trickling into mainstream politics. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a Democrat who\u2019s brought his law-and-order policing background and common-sense ethos to fixing some of the problems that plague the city. His campaign and subsequent governing style are labour-union friendly and comfortable with municipal spending but reject the progressive urban policies that have driven lawlessness and chaos in west coast cities. What these largely unconnected figures have in common is that while their ideas are relevant, they speak to current, pressing issues and thus resonate. They are not easily identifiable as Right or Left and you can easily imagine Democrats or Republicans championing them. What thinkers or ideas match that description in Canada?<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thehub.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Hub_Subscription_MooseQuarter_v1-1170x359.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n